


Bridges Built by Tiny Hands

by anextraordinarymuse (December_Daughter)



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/M, Family Feels, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-04
Updated: 2016-05-29
Packaged: 2018-06-06 06:41:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6743440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/December_Daughter/pseuds/anextraordinarymuse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Abby Griffin's life changes unexpectedly when Lexa - who is now, technically, her commander - brings a toddler into Arkadia with a plan.</p>
<p>Despite Abby's hesitation, the little girl might be just the thing to heal the rift between the Sky People and the Grounders (and, more importantly, the one between Abby and Clarke). </p>
<p>Fluffy family, kid!fic, because sometimes we need to get off the Angst Train for a while. Originally posted on my tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a little, happy AU - because GTF outta the house, heartache. This takes place after Marcus takes the mark that makes Skaikru the 13th clan. Lexa still kills the Ice Queen; there’s no blockade; no Pike as Chancellor; just really no pain, okay? Okay.

Knowing that Clarke was safe had gone a long way in settling Abby’s heart, so she was chagrined to discover that it did little for her sleeping habits. Days had passed since the Polis summit that made the people of Arkadia the thirteenth Grounder clan, but Abby still found sleep elusive.

There were more important things to worry about, though. There were always more important things. Maybe that was why she couldn’t sleep: because her concern and worry stretched so much farther than Clarke.

Abby had convinced Marcus to hold off on the election for Chancellor at the last minute. “Maybe we should wait,” she’d said. “Give our people time to adjust to the idea of being part of Lexa’s coalition before we throw something else into the mix.”

Marcus hadn’t wanted to wait, and Abby understood. Polis had invigorated him, and given him a fresh wave of idealistic hope. He knew they could do better, and be better, and he was anxious to give their people the chance to realize it as well. But Abby knew that it wasn’t that simple - their people were frightened, resentful even, of the idea of being under the command of a people they’d spent months calling enemy. They needed time to adjust.

Hopeful as he was, Marcus was also rational. He’d seen the sense in Abby’s argument and agreed that it was probably for the best.

“They’ll get there,” Abby had assured him.

So they’d returned to what had become the status quo: Abby remained Chancellor in name, but the running of Arkadia was shared between them.

“No matter who wears the pin, we’re in this together.”

Marcus had said those words to her in Polis, and Abby knew that he meant it. So did she. They knew what they were working toward, what vision of the future they were fighting so hard to bring about, but the others needed something more.

They needed something to unify them. They needed something good to cling to in the face of such a nasty history.

They needed hope.

* * *

 

“Chancellor!”

The call snapped Abby out of her spot on the couch before her eyes had properly opened. She stood still and uncertain for a long second; blinking, her gaze fell on Marcus where he stood reading an inventory list near the table.

“Chancellor!”

Abby and Marcus started moving for the door at the same moment only to stop short when Miller Senior suddenly jogged through the doorway.

“What is it?” Abby demanded. The haze of sleep had fallen away immediately and left only a sharp, painful awareness in its wake.

“Clarke,” Miller Senior started.

Abby’s heart leapt straight out of her chest and into her throat. She flung an arm out from her body instinctively and only understood what she was reaching for when Marcus caught it.

“She’s fine,” Miller added quickly, and Abby’s relieved exhale was so forceful it made her head spin. “She’s here, with Lexa and Indra. They’re approaching the gate now.”

“Let them in. We’ll be right there,” Marcus answered, because Abby’s tongue was momentarily glued to the roof of her mouth. He turned to face Abby when Miller had disappeared again. “Abby?”

She nodded once and focused on Marcus’s face. “I’m fine,” she assured him. “Did I fall asleep?”

“For about an hour.”

“Not a pleasant wake up call,” Abby muttered. She pulled herself together, the pads of Marcus’s fingers breezing over the skin of her forearm as he released her. “Let’s go.”

Clarke, Lexa, and Indra were just passing through the gate when Abby and Marcus stepped out of the Ark. Abby’s first thought was to run to Clarke, but Marcus pressed a hand gently into her lower back and aimed her ever so slightly at Lexa.

He was by far the better politician.

“Welcome, Commander,” Abby greeted Lexa as she dismounted from her horse.

Next to her, Marcus said something in Trigedslang and inclined his head. Abby had no idea what it was - she should probably start learning their language, now - but Indra smiled at him in response. Lexa gave a reply and then made eye contact with Abby. Though she didn’t smile outright, there was a twitch in her lips that made the older woman think that she wanted to. Lexa flicked her eyes quickly at Clarke, and Abby took it for the dismissal it was and moved immediately to Clarke.

Clarke, who still sat astride her horse - with a little girl in front of her.

“Mom,” Clarke prompted when seconds had passed and Abby remained rooted to her spot in surprise.

“Right,” Abby murmured. She stepped forward and held her hands out to the little girl.

She couldn’t have been more than four, and she didn’t say a word as Clarke handed her to Abby. Her dark hair was already so long it that it fell past her waist, and Abby was careful not to pull on it as she set the little girl on her feet.

“Something you wanna tell me?” Abby joked dryly when Clarke dismounted and hugged her.

Her daughter smiled crookedly. “Not here.”

Abby’s heart swooped unpleasantly. Whatever Clarke and Lexa were here to discuss, Abby had the distinct impression that she’d soon wish she’d slept more than four scattered hours in the last day and a half.

* * *

 

For the first time since they’d fallen out of the sky, Marcus had nothing to say.

He could feel the incredulous expression sweeping over his face but couldn’t stop it; when neither Lexa or Clarke spoke, he turned his head and looked to Abby for guidance. Abby, who was staring at the two young women with her mouth hanging open.

_Okay, no help there_ , Marcus thought.

He cleared his throat, started to speak, stopped, and then started again. “You … want us to foster a child?”

Maybe he’d misunderstood.

Lexa nodded definitively. “Yes.”

Nope, no misunderstanding. This was really happening: the Commander of the Grounders, who had so recently become their Commander as well, had traveled from Polis to bring them a child. Like a stork.

The thought snatched a bark of laughter from Marcus’s mouth before he could stop it, and three sets of eyes turned to him with startling quickness.

“Sorry,” he apologized with a lifted hand. “I’m just surprised.”

Maybe later, when this all made more sense (or, in lieu of that, when their reluctance had given way to acceptance, as he knew that it must) he’d share that particular mental image with Abby.

“I don’t understand.” Abby had folded her arms across her chest and reverted to Mom Mode in her confusion. She was looking at Lexa and Clarke like she’d just caught them pulling a practical joke.

Clarke jumped into an explanation. “Nadia’s parents were killed in a skirmish with the Ice Nation six months ago.”

“It’s common among our people to take on the orphaned children of our fallen warriors,” Lexa added.

Marcus wondered if Abby noted the smoothness with which Lexa had said “our people”, as though they’d always been one unit.

“You brought her to us specifically,” Abby prodded. “Why?”

This time Clarke faltered and looked to Lexa for guidance. The Commander swept her arms behind her and clasped her hands together, but her expression remained open.

“Nadia is a Nightblood,” Lexa explained. “Normally, she’d stay in Polis and be trained with her peers, but that path is closed to Nadia. She hasn’t spoken since the loss of her parents.”

Marcus knew there was more to it than that. Nightbloods were important to the Grounders, revered even; Lexa bringing one to Arkadia to be fostered was no small thing. Surely her people would be upset to learn that one of such an important few was being raised by the Sky people. Unless …

“You think she’s in danger.” Marcus knew the words were true as soon as he spoke them, and the way Lexa looked at him only confirmed them. “And that no one will think to look for her here.”

“There are those among us who see mutism as a sign of a weak mind. A mute in the Nightblood line is … unacceptable.”

“Won’t this make us a target?” Abby challenged. “If someone realizes she’s here?”

“You are the thirteenth clan,” Lexa said forcefully. “Anyone who moves against you, moves against me.”

Quieter, Clarke added, “So far, Lexa has been able to protect her. No one knows Nadia is mute. But …”

Abby’s expression tightened. “But?” she repeated.

“There’s a catch,” Clarke continued. “Nadia’s position is vulnerable. She needs more protection than just anonymity.”

Lexa, blunt as ever, dove right in. “You must raise her, Abby kom Skaikru. You are the Chancellor of Arkadia, and a healer. Nadia needs the protection your power will provide.”

_Well_ , Marcus thought in the span of Abby’s stunned silence, _that’s just the icing on the cake._


	2. Chapter 2

Abby’s fear and trepidation must have shone forth from her eyes like a beacon.

Raise a child, again, at her age? Alone? That was … how the hell could Clarke, or anyone, think that she could do that? Abby was already spread too thin. Between being the chief medical officer and the Chancellor, she barely had two seconds together to make sure she didn’t kill herself with the effort of caring after their people. There was no way she could look after a toddler as well.

Abby had been twenty-six when Clarke was four, and even with youth on her side it had taken both her energy and Jake’s to raise their daughter. Now, Abby was forty; forty and alone, scarred by more grief and loss than she could have predicted two decades ago.

That didn’t even take into account all the gaps in her relationship with Clarke. How could she even begin to repair those fissures if she agreed to this?

“I know it’s a lot to ask,” Clarke said as she stepped into her mother’s space. “Just like I know you can do it.”

Abby knew her daughter. No matter how Clarke tried to deny it, or how she changed, she was a part of Abby. So the Chancellor understood immediately what Clarke wasn’t saying - what blow she was trying to soften.

“But you’re not asking, are you?” The words hurt. Abby could tell that Clarke really did believe what she was saying: she had faith in her mother and knew she would agree to this plan because it was the right thing to do.

What hurt was the other truth lurking in her daughter’s blue eyes. Clarke’s reassurance was meant not only to buoy Abby’s spirit, but to manipulate her.

“Are you refusing?” Lexa sounded more surprised than angry.

Abby blinked against the tears that had risen unbidden to her eyes. Had the rift between her and Clarke grown so wide, then? Were they family only when the need arose, or the circumstances dictated? She’d been so relieved to find out that Clarke was alive on the ground … but it was only in the last few weeks that Abby had begun to fear that perhaps she had lost her daughter after all, the moment that drop ship full of kids had carried her to Earth.

Abby cut her eyes to Lexa. “No,” she said firmly. “I’m not refusing. Nadia will be safe here, under my protection.”

Lexa did smile then. It wasn’t much more than a restrained pull of her lips, but Abby was surprised by the way it transformed her face. She didn’t miss the way Lexa looked at Clarke, either, or what such a tender expression hinted at. That was something for her to wonder at later, however.

“I’ll wait for you outside.” Lexa said the words solely for Clarke’s benefit, but she inclined her head respectfully toward Abby as she moved toward the door.

“Would you mind some company?” Marcus asked.

“Not yours, Marcus kom Skaikru.”

So Marcus and Lexa departed, and a pervasive silence settled between Abby and Clarke that the daughter didn’t know how to break, and the mother feared they’d never get passed.

* * *

 

Indra joined Marcus at the edge of the fire pit that had been built up near the union. Someone had started a fire hours ago; the weather was beginning to turn chill, a herald of the onset of winter.

“This day has given you much to think on.”

Marcus sighed and glanced at the warrior woman next to him. Indra had trained her eyes on the same sight he’d been staring at for most of the evening: Abby and a small, silent little girl seated at a table on the other side of the fire. Lexa and Clarke had returned to Lexa’s tent outside the walls of Arkadia some hours ago and would be gone at first light.

Indra was staying; Indra, and four year old Nadia who was now, for all intents and purposes, Abby Griffin’s youngest daughter. Their people had taken in that announcement with as much shock and disbelief as Marcus had expected.

“Yes it has,” Marcus agreed.

They stood together in silence for a minute before Indra spoke again. “Heda has entrusted your people with a great responsibility.”

Marcus furrowed his brow. “My people? Don’t you mean Abby?”

Indra smiled. “You have not known many children, have you, Marcus?”

He considered the question. Sure, there had been children on the Ark, from babies to teenagers - but Indra was right. Marcus had interacted with few children outside of his duties as Chief Security Officer. He’d always liked children, but his job and life on the Ark hadn’t left him much time for them. In fact, it was only since their arrival on Earth that Marcus could say he’d ever cultivated a relationship with anyone more than twenty years his junior.

“No,” he finally answered. “Children are a little outside my purview.”

Indra looked at Nadia again. “You will learn.”

The obvious warmth in Indra’s tone caught Marcus by surprise. He had learned with time and experience that there were more layers to her than the seasoned warrior, but it had never occurred to him to wonder what some of those other layers might be.

“Do you have children, Indra?” he asked suddenly.

The woman in question shook her head. “No.” Then, “only a Second.”

Across from them, on the other side of the fire, Lincoln and Octavia had stopped at Abby’s table. Marcus couldn’t hear what was being said, but he watched as Lincoln crouched down to Nadia’s level. He must have said something because Nadia’s little head moved - she nodded once - and Abby smiled at Octavia.

“It means hope.”

“What does?”

“Her name. Nadia. It means hope.”

They were too far away to be heard, but just then Abby raised her head and met his eyes across the space that separated them. A phantom weight settled on Marcus’s shoulder, and he tried hard not to wonder if Fate hadn’t just paid them a visit.

* * *

 

Abby was at a complete loss, so she started in the only place she could think of: the medical bay.

The area was quiet and mostly empty. Abby was grateful for that: though Nadia had shown no signs of shock or sensory overload so far, the doctor in Abby was on high alert for them. That alertness was what had prompted her to bring Nadia to medical in the first place.

“She speaks English as well as Trigedslang,” Lexa had informed her before leaving that morning. “Or so I was told.”

Clarke hadn’t said anything about when she might be back next, and Abby had expected the “I don’t know” answer when she’d asked. She tried not to let it bother her too much.

Clarke had hugged her tightly before leaving. “I love you, mom.”

“I love you, too.”

So Abby had watched her daughter and the Commander - her Commander - ride out of the gate and then led Nadia to the medical bay.

Abby had talked to Clarke from the moment she’d known she existed, until Clarke had learned to speak and there was no room for her mother to get a word in edgewise. Nadia’s silence was unnerving.

Still, it was clear that she understood what was being said. She’d responded to Lincoln in the affirmative last night when he’d asked her as much, and she observed the world around her with interest. Nadia might not speak, but she knew what was going on, which was something for Abby to build on.

Abby led Nadia over to one of the low beds set against the wall and then turned around to lower herself onto her heels.

“Okay, Nadia,” she started quietly. “I’m gonna help you up onto this bed, and then I’m going to do what we call a check up. That’s where I make sure you don’t have any injuries. Is that okay?”

Nadia stared at her for a second before nodding. Abby smiled and held out her hands. The little girl didn’t seem prone to startling, but she figured it’d be best to go slowly anyway.

“Can I pick you up?” Abby asked.

Another short nod had Abby sliding her hands under Nadia’s arms and lifting her up onto the bed. Once she was seated and seemed content to sit in the middle of the bed, Abby stepped away to gather her stethoscope and a few squares of gauze, as well as some antiseptic, in case she came across anything that needed to be treated. Not that she expected to: Nadia had clearly been well cared for. This was really more for Abby’s benefit anyway, because it gave something productive to do.

Abby kept up a running commentary as she worked. She explained what a stethoscope was, and how it worked, and how she used it in her capacity as a healer. She’d been about to call herself a doctor when she’d remembered that Grounders used the word healer, and used that instead. Until she learned Trigedslang - which was yet another bullet on her list of Important Things To Accomplish - it was probably best that she try to use the English words that Nadia might be most familiar with.

The effort paid off immediately. Nadia watched Abby’s ministrations carefully, but at the word healer she raised her eyes to Abby’s face for the first time since she’d set her down on the bed. The unexpected directness of Nadia’s gaze stilled Abby’s hands.

“You do understand me,” Abby breathed quietly.

She had seated herself on the bed in front of the toddler and now found herself leaning forward, as though they were sharing a secret. The movement made the stethoscope rock slightly where it rested around Abby’s neck, which caught the little girl’s attention. She hadn’t initiated any contact since arriving, but now she extended a tentative hand toward the stethoscope.

Abby pulled the instrument slowly from her neck and offered it to Nadia. Her brown eyes were large and luminous in her childish face, and Abby found herself suddenly remembering how Clarke had loved to play with her medical instruments as a girl.

Heavy footfalls alerted Abby to the arrival of a third party, but she didn’t take her eyes off Nadia. Whoever it was could wait.

“Here.” Abby moved to put the ear buds in Nadia’s ears, and the girl went rigid. She paused with her hands half in the air and offered her most reassuring smile. “I’m not going to hurt you, Nadia,” she promised. “Watch.”

Abby pulled the stethoscope back to herself and put the ear buds in her ear again, then pressed the metal diaphragm against her chest. Nadia watched it all carefully.

“Wanna try?” Abby held the instrument out to Nadia, who took it after a moment of indecision and attempted to put the ear buds in her ears. “Can I help?”

When Nadia nodded, Abby leaned forward again and placed the ear buds in her ears. Then she pressed the diaphragm lightly into Nadia’s little chest and felt her own face light up with a smile as Nadia’s eyes went wide with wonder.

“That’s your heartbeat,” Abby explained.

Nadia listened for another moment and then, to Abby’s utter surprise, held the diaphragm out toward Abby’s chest. A deep, rumbling chuckle from behind her gave the newcomer away as Marcus.

“My turn?” she queried.

Nadia blinked and held the metal circle out farther. Abby scooted closer and leaned forward to guide Nadia’s hand and the instrument to a spot right over her heart. Nadia’s face lit up again.

“I think you’ve got her attention,” Marcus said. He stepped into the space on the other side of the bed and smiled down at Abby when she raised her eyes to his face.

“Guess I haven’t forgotten everything. Clarke loved doing this when she was little. Were you looking for me?”

Marcus nodded. “We’re supposed to go over Sinclair’s proposal for winter preparations in ten minutes.”

Abby turned her attention back to the toddler in front of her. “All done,” she told her.

Nadia contorted her face into her best approximation of a frown, and above them Marcus failed to hold back a chuckle. Nadia turned her frown on him.

“I know, you don’t want to be done,” Abby soothed, though privately she found it hilarious that Marcus was being glared at by a four year old. “We’ll come back later, okay?”

Nadia was hesitant to give up her new favorite object, but caved in the face of Abby’s pointed silence. When Abby had returned the stethoscope to its place on one of the tables she moved to help Nadia off the bed. The toddler was intent to get down on her own, however, so Abby stood watchfully at the edge of the bed and waited until Nadia was standing.

“Lead the way,” Abby said, and then stopped short when she discovered Marcus watching her with an expression she couldn’t name. “What?”

“Nothing.”

It was a lie, but Nadia had already started for the door and Sinclair was waiting for them, so Abby let it stand.

She didn’t think about that look again until long into the wee hours of the night, when Nadia was asleep in Abby’s bed and Abby’s mind was tired of thinking of all the ways her life had just been changed.


	3. Chapter 3

If that moment with the stethoscope was a step forward with Nadia, then what happened four days later was a step back.

A new and particularly virulent strain of the flu hit Arkadia without warning, which Abby discovered the morning she walked into medical and discovered that the entire camp had moved in en masse. Though the flu was not uncommon for the people of the Ark, it was unusual for so many to be struck at the same time, and for many of the people it was their first time being sick on the ground. Therefore, it wasn’t just that Abby spent the next twelve hours tending to people who acted like they’d never had a virus before, but that there was a barely contained edge of hysteria that Abby had to combat as well.

Though Nadia had simply taken to following Abby around during her duties as Chancellor, it was impossible for her to do so when Abby was fulfilling her duties as doctor. She’d panicked over that hurdle for hours before the most unexpected solution had presented itself in the form of not one, but several young adults.

“I’ll stay with her if you need me to,” Bellamy had offered.

“And I’ll take her when he can’t,” Octavia joined in. “Or Lincoln will if I’m not here.”

“Save some time for me,” Raven had interjected. “I’d like to get to know the littlest Griffin.”

That remark had set Abby reeling, because there was still a whole slew of things about this situation that she simply hadn’t had time to consider – like how it would make her feel to hear Nadia verbally acknowledged as her daughter.

So Abby had left the toddler with Lincoln that morning before reporting to medical, and it was to Lincoln she returned twelve – no, thirteen hours later. Lincoln and Octavia slept outside the walls of Arkadia and had no personal rooms within, so Abby had left Lincoln and Nadia in hers. That worked out better anyway, she figured, because her room was the one the little girl had become accustomed to in the last few days.

Only, when Abby turned the corner into her room she found Nadia seated alone in the middle of the floor, caked in dirt and sorting what looked to be dead leaves into rags that must have come from medical.

Abby snapped. The reaction was completely irrational: kids got dirty - it was a basic tenet of childhood – and Nadia hadn’t done anything wrong, but Abby couldn’t see that in the moment. In the moment, she was tired and overworked and over stimulated, and immediately angry.

“Nadia, no!” she bellowed as she charged forward.

The little girl startled so badly that she scattered a pile of leaves. Nadia turned terrified eyes upward and looked at Abby like she expected to be torn apart, and the older woman’s heart turned to stone in her chest as she came to a screeching halt.

“Abby!” Lincoln swept suddenly into the room and placed himself between the doctor and the girl, and that only made Abby feel worse.

“Oh my god,” Abby breathed.

Lincoln misunderstood the horror in her tone and launched into an explanation. “They’re tea leaves. We wrap them and keep them dry until they’re ready to be used. Nadia helped me collect them today.”

But Abby didn’t care about the mess, or the leaves, or the cloth; she cared that she’d lost her temper over nothing, and frightened a traumatized child so badly that even now she’d rather hide her face in dirty hands than look at Abby. The shame that flushed through her was the final straw.

“I can’t do this,” Abby said, and promptly broke down.

* * *

 

“… Just overwhelmed,” Marcus was saying. “I bet you get overwhelmed sometimes too, don’t you?”

Silence.

Then, “You probably don’t know what that means, do you? Well …”

In the uncertain pause that ensued, Abby cracked open first one eye, and then the other. The hazy orange glow that filtered in through her window told her that the sun was nearly down. That didn’t make sense for several more moments, until the events of the afternoon came floating back to her: yelling at Nadia; Lincoln lifting the girl into his arms and leaving with her as Abby started to cry; collapsing into her bed and crying herself to sleep.

The last time Abby had cried herself to sleep had been when she lost Jake.

“Being overwhelmed is what happens when the world gets too loud,” Marcus continued without warning. He’d obviously been searching for a way to explain the concept to Nadia, and now felt that he’d found a way to do so.

The lamp that Abby kept on her table had been turned on and pointed at the wall to soften the light. Marcus and Nadia were seated on the small bed that had been set up for Nadia. The toddler had clearly been bathed, and she sat with her back to Marcus as he pulled Abby’s hairbrush gently through her long, wet locks. Neither of them had noticed that Abby was awake, and she was careful not to draw attention to herself as she observed them.

“Sometimes there’s so much noise that you can’t think, and people ask you to do things that scare you, and you start to feel like you can’t take it for another minute.” Marcus stopped brushing Nadia’s hair. “You know what I do when I start to feel like that?”

Nadia clambered to her knees and turned clumsily to face Marcus. When she was certain that he was watching, she shook her head.

“I cover my ears,” he told her. “Like this.” He put both hands over his ears and smiled tenderly when Nadia copied him. Then he dropped his hands and waited for the girl to do the same. “Good, just like that. I cover my ears until the world gets quiet again, and things don’t seem so scary.”

Nadia put her hands over her ears again and waited several long seconds before giving Marcus an imploring look. He didn’t catch her meaning at first, and when he did it made his heart constrict. She was trying to tell him that she was overwhelmed, and her miniature features were awash with disappointment because covering her ears wasn’t enough.

Marcus removed Nadia’s hands from her ears and counted it a small victory that she allowed him to do so. “When that doesn’t work, you know what does?”

Nadia shook her head in the negative.

“A hug,” he said, and opened his arms.

Nadia leapt into them with a force that momentarily upset Marcus’s balance, but he recovered quickly. He’d never really touched Nadia, and from what he’d gathered from others, no one else had either. She submitted to being picked up without complaint, but to his knowledge she was not a tactile child; Abby had confessed to him some days before that it worried her. The way she clung to him now, though, made Marcus think that maybe Nadia’s reticence to seek out physical comfort had less to do with not wanting it, and more to do with not knowing how – or who – to ask for it.

Abby couldn’t bear to be a passive observer for another minute. She was an intelligent, self-aware woman and, as such, had known for some time that what she felt for Marcus went far deeper than friendship. They had come a long way from tearing at each other’s throats on the Ark: they had fallen to Earth side by side, faced torture and impending doom; they had stared into the face of their sins, and vowed to do better.

She was in love with Marcus, and she’d finally admitted it to herself the moment she’d seen him come alive in the Polis market place, but now she owned it; it had never been more apparent to her than it was in that moment as she watched him soothe a little girl in the growing darkness of her room.

Marcus’s eyes moved to Abby as soon as she started to move. “Hey,” he greeted softly.

“Hi,” Abby replied. She tipped her head down into her hands for a minute and then ran them back and through her ponytail before reestablishing eye contact. “Lincoln told you what happened?”

“Lincoln told me that you needed a break.”

Abby glared at Marcus. “No he didn’t.”

“He did, actually. You’re asking too much of yourself, Abby.”

Nadia chose that moment to unwind her arms from around Marcus’s neck and pull away far enough to turn her head and train her eyes on Abby. She gave the toddler her warmest, most reassuring smile.

“I’m sorry for losing my temper, Nadia. Can you forgive me?”

Nadia studied Abby and then turned to Marcus, who nodded. “I know she looks scary when she’s mad, but Abby would never hurt you.”

After another heartbeat of deliberation, Nadia turned to Abby again and nodded.

“Thank you,” Abby said sincerely. “How about I braid your hair before bed?”

When Nadia nodded again Abby rose and moved to sit in front of Marcus. Nadia was effectively sandwiched between them, and Abby waited patiently as the girl gauged the new situation. When she settled onto her butt on the mattress, Abby gathered up the long strands of Nadia’s hair and locked eyes with Marcus over her head.

“You should learn how to do this.”

“Braid hair?” The suggestion had clearly surprised him.

Abby nodded. “She trusts you.” For a breath she feared that she’d given herself away, and that Marcus would know that she’d been eavesdropping on them, but the moment passed. She dipped her head to the side to indicate the space next to her and said, “Come here.”

Marcus shifted into the space next to Abby, so close that his side was nearly pressed into her. Abby concentrated on dividing Nadia’s hair into three thick sections and then held them out to Marcus in invitation. His hands were rough as they slid over hers, a fact that Abby did her best not to think about.

“Pick one of the outside sections and pull it over to the middle,” she started, and the night grew dark and calm around them as Abby taught Marcus how to braid.

Later, when Nadia’s hair hung in a nice pleat down her back and she was asleep in her bed, Marcus said something Abby would never forget.

He was headed for the door when he stopped to level a gaze on her that was so private, and so tender, that Abby felt wholly comforted.

Marcus’s words were measured. “I know it’s not the same, but you’re not alone in this, Abby.”

Then he brushed a hand over the curve of her shoulder and let himself out of the room.


	4. Chapter 4

They found their routine after that. The first mistake had been navigated and handled, and in its wake everything settled down without Abby actively noticing.

Marcus had earned Nadia’s trust that night in Abby’s room. The child had taken to following him around whenever she could (which was often) and it was clear that Marcus was her favorite. Though it had flustered him at first, Marcus didn’t seem to mind the company.

He had made the mistake of lifting her up on his shoulders one day, and that was it: Nadia would hold out her short arms the moment she saw Marcus and there was no deterring her. She went everywhere she possibly could astride the shoulders of one of the most respected people in Arkadia.

(It had become one of Abby’s favorite sights almost immediately).

The sight of them together around the camp quickly became a staple of the day, and Abby found that it went a long way in making the people of Arkadia more accepting of Nadia’s presence.

“Where are Marcus and his shadow today?” Abby would hear people ask.

If there was a part of Abby that was jealous of the bond that Nadia and Marcus shared, she hid it well. Despite the physical and emotional distance that separated them now, Abby had experienced years of that childlike adoration with Clarke, and she was glad to know that Marcus had the chance to experience it as well.

Nadia still chose not to speak, but as the weeks passed and she became more comfortable in her new life, she came out of her shell. She’d sit on Raven’s workbench and hand her tools; play hide and go seek with Monty, Jasper, Harper, and Miller; collect roots and leaves with Lincoln; help Octavia groom and feed Helios; chase Bellamy around in a game of tag; and sit quietly with Indra while she cleaned and cared for her weapons.

The only ambiguous player in their new game of life was Abby. Nadia seemed perfectly content to be with the Chancellor, and she loved wearing a stethoscope around her neck whenever Abby took her to medical with her, but she appeared content to be without the older woman as well. Everyone deferred to Abby in any decision that involved Nadia - “yes, you can teach her to ride Helios” and “no, Monty, you can’t tell her that story because it might give her nightmares” - and Nadia herself listened and submitted to Abby’s authority admirably. But that seemed to be all; she didn’t shy from Abby’s touch, but she didn’t seek it out.

(Though it could be argued that, aside from Marcus, Nadia didn’t look for physical comfort from anyone).

The more time that passed - first two weeks, then three, then four - in such a manner, the more it plagued Abby’s thoughts. Nadia was happy to spend time with everyone except, apparently, Abby. The only reason she could think of for that was that moment when she’d lost her temper. Nadia had forgiven her, but clearly Abby had broken something that day that she hadn’t been aware of; her outburst had damaged whatever bond existed between her and Nadia, and now it couldn’t be fixed.

That made Abby’s heart ache in old ways. Having one child who didn’t want anything to do with her wasn’t hard enough - now she had two.

Such thoughts were weighing heavily on Abby’s mind one evening when she joined her people at one of the tables in their new cafeteria. The weather was steadily becoming colder, and Sinclair had been the one to point out that they’d soon need a designated space inside the Ark to serve as a mess hall, so Abby had given him leave to build it up as he saw fit.

She’d only seen the new space twice, but Abby barely noticed her surroundings as she sat down. Marcus had cleared a spot for her next to him on the long bench and her arm bumped and brushed his as she made herself comfortable.

Her expression must have given something of her gray thoughts away because Marcus leaned into her just enough to draw her attention.

“What’s wrong?”

Abby was rarely surprised by the ease with which Marcus read and understood her these days, just like she’d mostly given up on the idea of giving him lies or half-truths.

“I’ll explain later,” Abby murmured.

Across the table, Raven was sitting with Nadia on her lap; Monty, Jasper, Octavia, and Harper were crammed in alongside her on the bench.

As was her habit, Abby fell into a motherly sort of role when she saw them.

“Have you eaten?” she asked of the assembled kids.

“Yes, mom,” Raven teased.

“We knew you’d ground us if we didn’t,” Harper joined in.

That made Abby’s heart constrict. Of all the times for someone to joke about her motherly tendencies …

“I’m not,” Abby started, and then she was interrupted by the sudden appearance of the other kids.

It was probably better that she’d been interrupted. Abby had been about to say “I’m not your mother,” and she doubted that she could have disguised the bitterness she was feeling or kept it out of her tone.

“Marcus!” Miller said as he fell onto the bench next to the older man. “We had the best idea.”

“I want you to know I had no part in this,” Lincoln told them as he leaned down to kiss Octavia.

“Are you telling O or everyone else?” Bellamy challenged. He was more graceful than Miller had been as he sat down next to Abby.

“What idea?” Marcus prompted before they could get farther off track.

“We want to have a party tomorrow night,” Miller answered.

“A celebration,” Bellamy corrected.

“Right.” Miller nodded. “A celebration, complete with a bonfire and music and the night off of work for everyone.”

“I could get behind this idea,” Raven interjected.

At the same time, Octavia said, “A celebration of what?”

“Whatever you want,” Bellamy replied. “The end of the summer, the last few months of relative peace, being alive - everything.”

“C’mon, Marcus, what do you say?” Miller needled.

“I say …”

“Wait,” Raven interrupted with a giant grin, “let me guess: ask your mother.”

And everyone at the table turned their attention expectantly on Abby. When she didn’t immediately agree they took it as a sign to bribe her.

“We’ll eat all of our vegetables,” Jasper promised.

“I won’t argue the next time you say I’m due for a physical,” Raven said.

“I’ll fix that old music player for you,” Monty added.

Abby couldn’t hide the smile that had started to crawl across her face. Everything about this was ridiculous: a handful of eighteen year olds begging her for permission to throw a party, as if she was really their mother; as if they hadn’t spent the last several months fighting for their survival; as if the only evil in the world was an answer that wasn’t “yes”.

She turned to fix her eyes on Marcus. He hadn’t said anything but there was an amused smirk on his face, and he raised one eyebrow almost imperceptibly when she looked at him. That answered the question of whose side he was on well enough.

“Et tu, Brute?” Abby accused, and Marcus barked out a laugh.

“We could all use a little fun,” he told her. Then he inclined his head toward her and said in a softer, conspiratorial tone, “Even you.”

Abby forgot for a moment that the others were there, and that she and Marcus weren’t alone. She stared at him for a beat too long; across the table, everyone except Nadia shared a knowing look.

“Fine,” Abby agreed finally. “But we can’t leave the camp unguarded, so it’s up to you to figure out how to make the logistics work, Bellamy. Run your ideas by Marcus for final approval.”

As the kids shared triumphant grins and muted whoops of approval, Abby felt Marcus’s hand come to rest on her knee under the table. He squeezed it and she smiled at him.

Nadia, who had watched the proceedings with confused interest, chose that moment to try to wiggle out of Raven’s lap. Raven was seated in the middle of the bench so she had to motion for Jasper and Harper, who sat on either side of her, to lean away so that she could twist at the waist and set Nadia on her feet.

Once she was standing, Nadia made her way down the table and around to the other side. She headed straight for Marcus, which surprised no one; instead of reaching out in her silent signal to be picked up, Nadia began tugging at the sleeve of his shirt.

Marcus recognized the action and gave Abby an apologetic glance as he swung his legs out from beneath the table and stood.

“Where to?” Marcus asked Nadia.

Abby watched the little girl lead him to the other side of the room before turning her attention back to the people still seated at the table.

“Anything to report from the patrol?” she asked Lincoln and Bellamy.

Lincoln was giving her an abridged report - nothing happened, everything was quiet, no activity - when Bellamy interrupted.

“Abby.”

She looked at Bellamy, who motioned to something behind her with his chin. When she turned to look she saw that Marcus and Nadia had returned: Marcus had a plate of food in one hand, and Nadia was carefully carrying a cup of water. The toddler made straight for her and held the cup out without preamble; stunned, Abby took it from her. When she was free of the cup, Nadia turned and held out her hands until Marcus had placed the plate on top of them. Then she gave the plate to Abby.

A low laugh from the other end of the table broke the spell that had descended on the table. Lincoln started to explain when everyone turned to look at him, but he had to stop to chuckle a few more times before he could.

Finally, Lincoln fixed his eyes on Marcus. “You’ve just been reprimanded.”

“What?” Marcus asked.

“Reprimanded for what?” Abby said at the same time.

Lincoln, his face glowing with mirth, motioned at their group. “Mom provides for the family.” Then he cut his eyes to Marcus, and from Marcus to Abby. “Dad provides for mom.”

“Except you didn’t.” Octavia’s face brightened as she realized what Lincoln was saying. “Abby sat down at the table, but she hasn’t eaten.”

“Nadia thinks it’s because you didn’t bring her food.”

“So she showed you what to do.” Raven’s face was luminescent with amusement.

The laughter started like a swell: it bubbled just below the surface for the span of a heartbeat, and then all at once it swept down the table. Even Abby, who was so embarrassed her cheeks burned and she couldn’t look at Marcus, found the situation hilarious.

They laughed until the room echoed with it, and their sides hurt, and Abby forgot what she’d been worried about.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is so. much. fluff. ahead.

Marcus knew that it was a long shot; he knew that it was a silly request borne from a place of idealistic hope. Which was the second biggest reason he did it, the first being the payoff if his plan succeeded.

He woke early and slipped out of the camp before anyone but the guards would notice. Though his first thought had been to do it himself, he’d realized that his absence would be conspicuous. So he left Arkadia and found his way to the nearby copse where Lincoln and Octavia generally slept. Marcus apologized for startling them awake and then outlined his plan and subsequent request.

Octavia’s grin was overpowering when she agreed. “Of course I’ll go,” she chirruped. Then she surprised Marcus by hugging him. “I’ll be quick.”

There was nothing for him to do after that except wait.

* * *

 

The excitement in the camp was palpable. Everywhere Marcus looked people were smiling; they moved with joyful purpose as they transformed the open area around the unofficial bar into a place that could hold a party. Tables were rearranged around temporary fire pits, strung into a half-circle with the bar behind them and the “dance floor” in front of them. Raven and Jasper could be seen pushing things into the dirt at set intervals, and when Marcus went to inspect them he found two pleased young adults.

“They’re lights,” Jasper explained. He drove another small light, which had been attached to a piece of wood sharpened into a stake, into the ground.

“Solar powered lights,” Raven added with a satisfied grin. “They’ll charge all day and run all night. Theoretically.”

“How did you make them?” Marcus asked with genuine curiosity.

“Repurposed a few solar batteries we brought out of Mount Weather. And before you give me a lecture, I didn’t take them from anything important, and they can always be put back later.”

Marcus smiled. “Of course.”

“As long as Monty comes through with the music, we’re all set for the best party Arkadia has ever seen.”

Jasper rolled his eyes. “The only party Arkadia has ever seen.”

“Which automatically makes it the best.”

“Right. Monty will have the music, and Gina will have the moonshine. We’re set.”

“Moonshine?” Marcus repeated.

“Mom said we could,” Raven said quickly. She’d apparently grabbed hold of the “Abby as mom” joke and decided to run with it.

“Two drink limit for anyone eighteen and older.” Jasper grinned. “None for me.”

Marcus dropped a hand onto Jasper’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. The young man was struggling and had only recently allowed his friends to reach out to him. The situation was still touch and go – there was more pain and anger in Jasper than he often knew what to do with – but Marcus could see the first small changes taking root.

“You’re doing great.” Marcus said it to both of them, but he thought that Jasper understood that he meant more than the party setup.

When Marcus left Raven and Jasper to finish their work, he deluded himself into thinking that he was headed nowhere in particular for a good five minutes. He ambled quietly around the camp and watched the people bustling about, and all the while his feet were carrying him closer and closer to the place his subconscious wanted him to be.

Marcus gave up all pretense of being aimless when his boots struck the metal floor of the Ark. He followed the corridor to Abby’s room, unsure if he’d find them there or if Abby and Nadia were already out and about for the day.

When he arrived at the desired door he found it open. Marcus smiled. Abby was a private person, but the demands of a double workload left her with only sparse, scattered moments of alone time. She had quickly grown tired of the constant knocking on her door when someone needed her, so she’d made the concession of having an “open door” policy as long as people respected a closed one. If the door was closed, Abby was either elsewhere, or she wasn’t to be disturbed. Those were the rules.

(Though they didn’t apply to everyone, if he was being honest, because Abby never turned her delinquent children away and Marcus generally operated with an all access pass. But everyone valued their lives too much to mention that).

Marcus rapped his knuckles lightly on the door anyway. He waited a beat and then stepped into the room to find something of a role reversal: Abby sat on the edge of her bed while Nadia stood behind her, barefoot and slowly pulling a hair brush through Abby’s loose hair.

Marcus’s smile was wide. “Morning,” he greeted.

Nadia smiled in response, and Abby turned her head slightly so she could see him better. “Morning,” she replied.

Marcus had never considered himself a family man. He’d loved his mother and been devoted to her as a child, but as he’d matured love and family had been marginalized by the reality of living. Marcus had been too focused on the survival of his people – the human race at large – to think about hearth and home. He’d poured every bit of himself into doing his job, and doing what was right, only to discover that he’d lost more than a hypothetical family along the way; only to discover that all the things – all the people - he’d sacrificed along the way were more precious than he’d allowed himself to realize.

Marcus had never considered himself a family man, and then he’d fallen to Earth beside a woman who had torn the heavens apart to find her daughter. A woman who had endured unspeakable losses, and torture, and torment …

… The same woman who sat peacefully on the edge of her bed while a toddler played with her hair.

Marcus was suddenly aware that he’d been staring at the two figures on the bed. He dropped his eyes to study the toes of his boots for a minute.

“Raven tells me you’re letting them serve moonshine tonight,” he said finally. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

Abby laughed quietly and the sound drew his attention. “Two drink limit, Marcus.”

“Still.”

“Everything will be fine.”

Abby’s face contorted in discomfort; behind her, Nadia tried to hold up the brush that had become tangled in Abby’s hair and simultaneously give Marcus a pleading look.

“What happened here?” Marcus inquired as he moved to sit down on the bed.

He sat next to Abby, but facing her so that he could help Nadia with the brush. She appeared to have rolled the brush through Abby’s hair; with steady fingers Marcus began to pull carefully at small sections.

Abby’s hair had always been long. He only appreciated how long it really was when he was tasked with unraveling it; the strands shone amber gold in the sunlight that filled the room, and they felt like silk against his hand as he worked.

When the brush was free Marcus smiled encouragingly and handed it back to Nadia.

“Brush out the tangles,” he instructed as he motioned at the section of hair that he’d just freed. “Carefully, though.” Then, to Abby, he said, “Crisis averted.”

Abby was about to reply when there was a knock on the door and Bellamy strode in.

“Abby, have you seen – oh.”

“Looking for me?” Marcus asked as he stood.

“Yeah. You said you wanted to talk to everyone who would be on guard duty tonight, so I rounded them up.”

“Good. Where are they?”

“In the mess.”

Marcus excused himself and followed Bellamy to the mess hall, where he talked about defenses and the protection of their home with a head full of thoughts of a little girl and golden hair.

* * *

 

As it happened, Marcus had just finished his shift on guard duty when the party started. Monty had set up an area behind the bar where the iPod was set up and connected to several small speakers; those speakers were in turn connected by long wires to several more speakers that ranged out around the tables and angled in toward the dancing area to disseminate the music.

The bonfires had been lit and Raven’s solar lights were working perfectly, and the result was downright magical. Music filled the walls of Arkadia, and warm light ensconced them in a bubble that was golden against the inky darkness of the night that pressed in around them.

Marcus had just spotted Nadia and Abby with several of the kids when the radio at his hip crackled. He lifted it to his ear to hear the voice over the music.

“They’re here.”

“Let them in.”

The sound of the main gate opening drew everyone’s attention immediately. A hush fell as apprehension swept through the camp; three mounted riders trotted into Arkadia.

“Clarke?” Abby called out in surprise.

The apprehension fell away as the riders pulled down their hoods and revealed familiar faces: Clarke, Lexa, and Octavia.

Marcus made his way over to the late arrivals as they dismounted. He saw Abby make a beeline to Clarke and envelope her in a tight hug and smiled.

Marcus put a hand on Octavia’s arm. “Thank you,” he said quietly.

Octavia beamed at him. “Told you I’d hurry.”

“Commander,” Marcus greeted, and he inclined his head in respect.

Lexa repeated the motion and then smiled. “Here, you may call me Lexa.”

A pair of small arms wrapped around his left leg, and Marcus glanced down to find that Nadia had latched onto him, but her eyes were trained on Abby and Clarke. Abby had her hands on Clarke’s face and they were having a quiet conversation.

“Hello, Nadia,” Lexa said, and that drew the girl’s attention. She smiled in response.

Abby cleared her throat then and stepped away from her daughter. The sheen of unshed tears made her eyes bright even in the darkness.

“Clarke. It’s good to see you again.”

Marcus didn’t have a chance to say more. Almost as one solid unit the other kids descended upon them: Raven, Monty, Jasper, Bellamy, Lincoln, Harper, Miller … Marcus scooped Nadia up and carried her off to a table before she could be trampled in the excitement.

Unbeknownst to Marcus, Abby used the distraction the kids provided to pull Octavia aside.

“You went to Polis? When? How did you convince her to come?”

Octavia shrugged. “I told Lexa that it would raise Skaikru’s esteem with the other tribes to have the Commander visit, and that she could check on Nadia. Then I told Clarke the truth.”

“What truth?”

Octavia cut her eyes to where Marcus and Nadia sat. Abby followed her line of sight.

“That Marcus knew the only way you’d enjoy yourself was if Clarke was here.”

Abby’s eyes snapped back to Octavia. “Marcus sent you to Polis?”

The younger woman nodded. “First thing this morning, so I could bring Clarke back in time for the party.”

Lincoln appeared then and led Octavia away. Abby didn’t mind. She remained still for the space of several heartbeats, her eyes fixed on the bearded man in the distance as Clarke’s voice wove in and out of a chorus of voices behind her.

Her daughter was here because Marcus had wanted to surprise her, and because he knew that Clarke’s absence wore on her.

The air was full of music and laughter; Clarke had been led away by her friends and relocated near the bar; Marcus and Nadia were playing some sort of game that had them both smiling; and Abby’s heart was so full, her heartbeat so strong, that she could almost believe it was about to sprout wings and take flight.

When Abby sat down on the other side of Nadia, Marcus’s smile was the same as it always had been: warm, and kind, and familiar. There was nothing in his face to suggest that he was satisfied with himself or his surprise. Abby knew in that moment that if Octavia hadn’t told her that it was Marcus’s idea to invite Clarke, she never would have known – Marcus would have never told her.

“The kids did a good job,” Marcus said conversationally. He cast his eyes around the area and soaked in the joyful expressions everyone wore. “Harper wants to call it ‘Arkadia’s First Annual Celebration of Life’.”

Abby laughed and sought out Harper. She was standing with Jasper and Monty at the bar, a cup of moonshine in one hand and her customary guard’s uniform absent. They were all so young, and that was easy to forget in the press of day-to-day life.

“Has quite the ring to it,” Abby replied. She turned her eyes back to Marcus. She had to say something; she was bursting with all the words she wanted to say, had wanted to say at every missed opportunity and interrupted moment.

Then the music changed, and a loud cheer went up, and a mass of people relocated suddenly to the dancing area. Clarke was there and her face was alight with laughter as she grabbed a perplexed Lexa by the hand and dragged her into the fray.

“I’m glad they have each other.” Marcus was watching the girls as well. His expression was fond, and it was the same look Abby often saw him give Nadia.

Abby wanted to say something profound, but instead the words that came out of her mouth were, “I’m surprised Lexa is letting Clarke drag her out there. She’s so reserved as the Commander.”

Nadia surprised both Abby and Marcus by crawling into Abby’s lap at precisely that moment. Abby wrapped her arms around the tiny frame and locked her hands together as Nadia settled in with her back against Abby’s side so that she could continue to watch the people.

Marcus’s gaze was piercing when he turned it back to Abby. “Tonight, she’s just Lexa. There are no commanders here, Abby, no chancellors or leaders or titles. It’s just us.”

Indra appeared before Abby could respond. The warrior woman spent most of her time outside of Arkadia’s walls like Lincoln and Octavia, and came and went as she pleased, so Abby hadn’t realized that she was here.

“She trusts you,” Indra said.

Abby glanced down at Nadia, who had fallen asleep in her lap, and smiled. “We’re making progress.”

“You are. I’ll take her to my tent with me now, if you’ll allow it.”

“Oh,” Abby started to protest, “I can …”

“Abby.” Marcus put a hand on her arm. “Let Indra take her. She’ll be safe. Go spend some time with Clarke.”

Abby agreed reluctantly. The idea of spending the night without Nadia made her uncomfortable, but she knew that Marcus was right and she’d be safe with Indra. And she did want to spend time with Clarke.

Nadia barely stirred when Abby stood and transferred her to Indra’s waiting arms.

“Thank you,” Abby said. “If she wakes up in the middle of the night, or needs anything …”

Marcus laughed. “Abby,” he chided gently as he rose to his feet. “She’ll be fine. C’mon.”

With a hand between her shoulder blades Marcus guided Abby away from their table and toward the nearly chaotic mess of energetic bodies. He took them to the bar and procured two cups of moonshine. Abby grinned at him when he handed one to her.

“Are you sure?” Abby asked teasingly, an echo of their earlier conversation.

“Two drink limit,” he repeated.

She barely had time for more than two drinks before Clarke popped into the space next to her. The environment had transformed her daughter’s face: the shadows and pain that so often lurked behind her blue eyes were temporarily absent. Clarke’s smile was radiant, and Abby’s heart soared to see it. Just for a moment, her daughter was a girl again, excited to be out with her friends.

“Let’s go,” Clarke announced as she grasped her mother’s hand and started to pull her out into the dancing people.

“Oh no,” Abby protested, but her feet had already begun to move.

She turned her head back to Marcus in time to see Octavia flounce out of the crowd and over to him.

“You old people have to teach us how to dance!” Octavia crowed happily.

“Old people?” Marcus challenged. He was smiling as he followed Octavia.

“You know what I mean.”

“What makes you think I can dance?”

“Call it a hunch. C’mon, Kane, have some fun.”

The music had been fast and upbeat until that point. Marcus didn’t mind it but it was clearly meant for the younger generations; when the song changed that new age beat was replaced by an older, less electronic one that made Marcus grin despite himself. He knew that music.

(Later, Marcus would come to the conclusion that it had most likely been a set up, and he’d be exasperated and grateful in equal measure).

So Marcus tried to teach Octavia an abridged version of the jitterbug and the spaces between the beats of music were full of raucous laughter as Octavia stepped on his toes and tripped over the steps. The song changed but the music stayed in the same vein, and then Octavia pulled Lincoln over and Clarke took her place.

“You too?” Marcus laughed.

“I know most of the steps,” Clarke assured him.

She did. She had to concentrate on where she was putting her feet, but Clarke had clearly done this before, and together she and Marcus managed to make almost two complete revolutions. Clarke eventually lost the thread of her thoughts – which foot went where and when – and couldn’t compete with Marcus’s experienced ease; she fumbled her steps and bumped into Jasper.

“All right,” Jasper called out over the music, “how hard can this dance be?”

He motioned for Clarke to move and then stepped up to Kane, which made a great swell of laughter ripple through the assembled dancers. Jasper held up his hands in an approximation of the correct placement and nodded at the older man.

“Teach me.”

Marcus’s shoulders were shaking with laughter as he acquiesced. Jasper had never attempted the jitterbug before, but he was closer to Marcus in height, so maybe it would balance out.

By the time they managed to make an almost complete revolution most of the kids had stopped and formed a ring around them to witness the proceedings. Clarke kept trying to call out the steps to Jasper, and Raven was just cracking jokes, and no one else could stop laughing long enough to do anything but watch. Even Marcus was having a hard time concentrating long enough to teach him anything.

“This is impossible!” Jasper finally decided.

“No it’s not.”

Marcus had lost track of Abby in the crowd, but she stepped forward now and tapped Jasper lightly on the shoulder in a clear command to move. Her cheeks were flushed from exertion, and her eyes glittered with reflected light, and her hair fell mostly unrestrained over her shoulders in honey curls; Marcus would have fallen in love with her immediately, if he hadn’t already.

“You think you can jitterbug?” he teased.

Abby was all challenge and heat when she stepped into his space. “Don’t worry, I’ll teach you how.”

A chorus of oohs and several whoops told Marcus that the exchange had been heard, but his eyes and arms were now full of Abby, and there was nothing else.

He waited for an opening in the music. “Ready?”

“Lead on.”

Abby knew how to jitterbug. She knew where Marcus was going to put his feet, and which direction he was turning them, and how far out to spin when he extended his arm; she moved within his space with a startling, satisfying ease.

They made it through an entire song. When they finally stopped, breathless and beaming, the crowd broke into thunderous applause.

“No way,” Jasper announced. “I am not coordinated enough for that.”

“I need a drink,” Marcus said with a heaving sigh.

“Me too,” Abby agreed.

He didn’t dare examine the way her hand stayed in his until they’d returned to their drinks, or the way she looked at him some time later when she held out the same hand during a slow ballad in a wordless invitation.

This party was the best idea the kids had ever had.

* * *

 

Later, when it was clear that the kids would outstrip them in both energy and zeal, Marcus walked Abby back to her room. The music was muted inside the structure but still discernible, and the general clamor of laughter and voices was a welcome undercurrent.

“You’ve done it now.” Marcus’s voice was soft despite the relative emptiness of the rooms around them. “They’ll be asking to throw a party every week after this.”

Abby smiled. She had smiled more this evening than Marcus could remember her doing in the last … well, the last year at least, maybe more. They weren’t her small, tired smiles that he sometimes saw after long days or sleepless nights; they were wide, and warm, and dazzling. Even if nothing else had happened Marcus would call the night a success in the face of just one such smile.

“I don’t think I have the energy for another one.”

Marcus laughed. “I might have to sleep through tomorrow to recover.”

They had reached Abby’s door. Abby opened it but chose to turn to face him instead of stepping inside. A fond goodnight was on Marcus’s lips when she spoke first.

“Marcus.” She hesitated and lowered her eyes in an uncharacteristic show of uncertainty before returning them to his face. “Thank you.”

His brows drew down in confusion. “For what?”

“For taking care of Nadia.” Her voice dropped into something close to a whisper. “For taking care of me. For Clarke.”

Marcus shook his head in denial. “You don’t have to thank me, Abby.”

There was a heavy pause before Abby asked, “Did you know that Clarke would agree to come tonight? When you sent Octavia to Polis?”

Abby’s face was so hopeful; Marcus yearned to heal the rift that had grown between Abby and Clarke, and to alleviate all the worry and pain that rift caused Abby. He wished he could say yes and have it be the truth.

“No. But I hoped that she would.”

Marcus was unprepared for the effect that his words had; he was caught by surprise when Abby suddenly surged forward and up, pressing herself into him as her lips found his with passionate precision.

He was surprised, but he wasn’t unwilling. Marcus banded one arm around her shoulders and one around her back and held her to him as he matched her fervor with his own. Abby slung one arm over his shoulder and slid her hand into his hair, and for a long time the world around them ceased to exist.

Marcus was the first to (regretfully) draw away. He didn’t want to push the envelope too far; he didn’t want to push Abby too far.

Abby didn’t let him go far, however. She brought their foreheads together as her hand left his hair and coasted down his cheek and over his beard; her breath was warm against his chin.

After a moment had passed in such a manner Abby lifted her head and extricated herself from his embrace.

“Good night, Marcus.”

Any concerns that might have bubbled up in him then were effectively silenced when Abby snuck in another small kiss.

Marcus smiled. “Good night, Abby.”


	6. Chapter 6

Waking without Nadia was strange. Abby hadn’t considered how ingrained in her life the toddler had become until the morning after the party, when she opened her eyes to a lonely room. Despite that, she was in an undeniably good mood.

Abby had secured Clarke’s promise to have breakfast before leaving last night as she was leaving the party. They hadn’t agreed on a time, but Abby figured that she could go now and enjoy a relaxed morning for once. Usually when she woke it was either a mad dash to get everything done or a twelve-hour shift on her feet in medical; breakfast was rushed, or it was non-existent.

Today, though, she’d have a relaxed breakfast with her daughter, and then she’d go down to Indra’s tent and get her youngest daughter.

Sleeping in was a luxury that they’d rarely been allowed to enjoy on the Ark, and it was rarer here on the ground, so Abby wasn’t surprised to step out of her room and find the camp already buzzing with activity.

The mess hall was sparsely populated when Abby arrived. Unexpectedly, her eyes fell on a table near the front where Clarke, Raven, and Monty were seated. The sight made Abby smile.

Raven saw her then and waved her over with a smile.

“Morning,” Abby said as she sat down.

Clarke’s smile was fond but small. “Hey, mom.”

“Where’s the M & M?” Raven asked.

Monty laughed.

“With Indra,” Abby answered.

At the same time Clarke said, “M & M?”

“Mini-Marcus,” Raven explained.

“Nadia loves to follow Marcus around.” Monty continued. He sipped at his glass of water. “We started calling them Marcus and the Mini, and then Raven just shortened it to Mini-Marcus.”

Abby felt a presence behind her a bare second before Raven’s eyes shifted to focus on something behind Abby’s shoulder, and then a long arm reached carefully around her and deposited a plate of food on the table in front of her. Abby leaned slightly to the side and tipped up her head to find Marcus smiling down at her. She couldn’t resist returning the smile.

Raven and Monty laughed. Clarke furrowed her brow and stared at the lot of them in confusion. What was funny about Marcus bringing Abby breakfast? Why had he brought her breakfast, for that matter?

Marcus put his own plate down on the table and sank down next to Abby.

“Where’s Lexa?”

Clarke cleared her throat. “Gone, actually. She has some pilgrimage to make before winter sets in, so I thought I’d stick around for a while.”

Clarke’s words had an immediate effect: Abby straightened in her seat and twisted at the waist to face her daughter more fully; Monty and Raven stared at her; and Marcus leaned back to see her around Abby.

“You’re staying?” Abby’s voice trembled with the force of her hope.

Clarke’s answer was hesitant. “For a little while.”

Abby hugged her daughter with fierce happiness. Clarke smiled and closed her eyes; it’d be nice to have her mom around again, even if their relationship was a bit strained.

When she opened her eyes, Clarke’s chin was still pressed into her mom’s shoulder and so she could see the expanse of her back – where one of Marcus’s hands had come to rest. There was nothing inappropriate about it – his hand rested over her spine, just below her shoulder blades – and Clarke had noticed some time before that casual, thoughtless touches seemed to be a regular occurrence for Marcus and Abby. There was something about this touch that stood out to Clarke, though.

How much had changed in her absence?

“That’s great,” Monty said as Abby finally released Clarke.

“About time,” Raven said.

“But I want to be useful.” Clarke’s words were firm, and Abby nodded even as Clarke glanced around her mother to look at Marcus. “Patrols, or guard shifts.”

“Maybe a few shifts in medical,” Abby said.

Clarke was going to protest, thinking that this was a ploy so that Abby could keep an eye on her, or manufacture more time with her, but something in Marcus’s expression stopped her.

Then Abby continued. To Clarke’s surprise, she turned her attention away from Clarke and delivered the words to Marcus. “I’d like to send Jackson out with Nyko. He has a small garden for medicinal herbs, and he’s offered to give us some trimmings to start one of our own but I haven’t been able to get out there. I’d like to have that garden started before the weather gets any colder. With Clarke here to cover a shift I won’t have to worry about being understaffed while he’s gone.”

Marcus nodded. “I’ll take a small detail and go with him. I think we’ve figured out the best way to salt and store meat for the winter, so I’d like to see if we can get some more small game animals.”

“What was our inventory at the last council meeting?”

Clarke fixed her attention on Raven and Monty, who had already stopped listening to Abby and Marcus. Monty smiled at her when he saw her looking at them. Raven shrugged.

“They do this a lot. Just wait it out.”

Clarke didn’t respond. Apparently a lot more had changed around Arkadia than she’d anticipated.

* * *

 

That feeling of change that had settled over Clarke at breakfast only intensified throughout the day.

Abby Griffin was the Chancellor in title, but it quickly became clear that the job was shared between her and Marcus. Though they spent the majority of the day apart – Marcus had the afternoon patrol and guard shift, and Abby was busy juggling the demands on her time as both Chancellor and Chief Medical Officer – it was clear that the running of the camp fell to both of them.

“Marcus said,” Clarke would hear, and, “Abby said,” and the words never phased whichever leader was being spoken to; in fact, it was taken for granted that the other person would have already dealt with a situation according to some division of labor that Clarke wasn’t privy to.

“Whatever Marcus thinks is best,” Abby would say.

“Do as the Chancellor says,” Marcus would say.

The biggest change, though, ran into the camp several strides ahead of Indra with a large smile on her face and a single braid hanging down her back near the end of the day.

Clarke hadn’t been assigned any duties until tomorrow, so she’d spent her day re-acquainting herself with the camp. She was outside when Nadia flounced her way through the camp; she watched as the toddler stopped near the guard tower and looked around expectantly.

Nate Miller smiled and crouched down to say something to Nadia that Clarke couldn’t hear. He held his hand out for a high five, which she gave him, and then she made a beeline for a small metal building across the way.

Nadia went in alone. By the time Indra arrived at the building, unhurried and unconcerned by the toddler’s excited desertion, Marcus was stepping out of the building. His weapon was gone and Nadia was perched on his shoulders.

Indra and Marcus fell into step as they headed for Arkadia’s main building. Clarke knew where they were going. She stood and followed them but, whether out of curiosity or some private sense of jealousy, she didn’t try to catch up with them.

Clarke missed the first seconds of the reunion. When she stepped into medical her mother was smiling and holding her arms out for Nadia. The toddler switched parents readily.

Clarke’s heart lurched upon realizing that she’d just referred to her mother and Marcus collectively as Nadia’s parents, even if she’d only done so in the privacy of her own thoughts.

“It’s time for her training to begin,” Indra said.

Abby’s face fell. “Training?”

“It is her birthright.”

Abby was ready to protest. Marcus put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently. “She’s a Nightblood, Abby. The training is part of her heritage.”

“It’s part of who she is,” Clarke said quietly from her spot near the door.

All eyes turned to her. Nadia alone was surprised to see her.

Abby sighed. The way she looked at Nadia made a dark spot in Clarke’s heart ache: it was the spot she’d denied so often in the last two years – three years, maybe – that sometimes she could trick herself into forgetting it was there. It was the spot in her heart that missed her mother; the part of her that just wanted to be held like a little girl again, even now.

“I know,” Abby said finally. “When will you start?”

“Tomorrow,” Indra answered. “I will come for her after breakfast.”

Then Indra disappeared. For a minute no one spoke, and it was just the four of them alone in medical.

Marcus was the one to disrupt the silence. “Go,” and he was looking at Abby but he shucked his head at the door, “have some dinner.”

Clarke expected her mother to argue, but Abby nodded. “Have you eaten?”

“No, but I’ll get something later. I want to talk to Bellamy about the team for tomorrow.”

The words were true, but it was clear that neither Clarke nor Abby were fooled. Marcus was declining the oblique offer to join them to allow Clarke, Abby, and Nadia some private time together.

Clarke could have hugged Marcus right then she was so grateful. Instead, she waited until he had excused himself with a kiss to Nadia’s forehead – which made Clarke’s heart constrict with the memory of her father – and then stopped him with a hesitant hand on his arm.

“Thank you, Marcus.”

His smile was warm, and fond, and Marcus wasn’t her father but there was something decidedly paternal about it that Clarke was surprised to admit that she didn’t mind.

“You don’t have to thank me, Clarke.”

“I wasn’t talking about dinner.”

“I know.”

Marcus slipped out of the room and then Abby was there. She had set Nadia down to walk on her own. Something on Clarke’s face prompted her mother to wrap her in a hug, and instead of finding some reason to cut it short the young woman known to some as Wanheda tucked her chin into the small, familiar shoulders and hugged her mother tightly.

Then the three of them set off for the mess hall, where the world wasn’t ending and war wasn’t waiting and no one was dying.

At least for tonight the world was at peace, and so were they.


	7. Chapter 7

Being a mother changed something fundamental about you.

There was an awareness that came with the title, an awareness like nothing else in life: it was the disconcerting knowledge that half of your heart now beat outside of your body; it was the immediate and visceral reaction, beyond all sense or rationale, of your entire being when your child cried out for you.

Abby was in medical when it happened. She was in the middle of talking to a patient - a young man who had sliced open his foot being foolish with his friends - when a sound that she hadn’t heard in years ripped through the air.

“Mom!”

The word wasn’t a yell: it was a piercing, terrified shriek that split Abby’s chest wide open. She was running without thought, without mediation, without anything but base instinct; guided by some invisible string that vibrated at just the right frequency to reach her. Anyone’s child could have uttered that word.

But Abby knew, in that formless, powerful way that mother’s did, that it wasn’t any child: it was hers.

So she ran, and burst forth from the belly of the space station in a whirlwind. The screaming hadn’t stopped. The word had lost its form but not its terror, and all over the people of Arkadia were streaming from doors and open spaces in answer. Abby didn’t see them.

Abby saw the small group at the gate; she saw the man propped between Clarke and Jackson, his toes dragging in the dirt; she saw the tattered remains of his shirt hanging open to bare long, hideous gashes.

She saw Nadia in the dirt, mouth open to make way for the monstrous wail that issued forth from her throat as Marcus was dragged past her.

“Help them get him to medical,” Abby snapped to whoever was near her.

She ran for Nadia. The girl’s face was scrunched up and her eyes pinched tightly shut, and she was screaming herself out of air. The flush that always heralded a lack of oxygen had spread over her face and down her neck.

“Nadia,” Abby called as she dropped to her knees and seized the girl by the shoulders. “It’s okay, Nadia, I’m here.”

The scream cut off. Two huge, wet brown eyes opened and fixed on Abby’s face. Nadia’s chin quivered.

“Mom?” Her voice was airy and cracked on the vowel, and it was the first word Nadia had ever said.

The first time Abby heard Nadia’s voice she was terrified, and she’d called her mom.

“I’m here, baby.”

Nadia lunged and Abby grabbed, and the toddler crashed into Abby’s arms with all the force her tiny body could hold.

But Abby couldn’t think about that now. She clutched Nadia to her and pushed her knees forcefully into the dirt to regain her feet. Tears soaked her shirt at the shoulder as she carried them both along the path that Clarke and Jackson had traveled.

Marcus was immobile on a bed when Abby arrived. His jacket and the remains of his shirt had been removed, and Clarke and Jackson moved over him with precise, frenzied movements.

“What the hell happened?” Abby demanded.

“A mountain lion,” Jackson answered. “We were ambushed by a damn mountain lion.”

“Is anyone else hurt?”

“Superficial cuts. Marcus took the worst of it.” Clarke spared a glance at her mom, and the small figure in her arms. “We’ve got this. You should get Nadia out of here.”

“No!” The word tore from Nadia’s throat and she nearly catapulted herself out of Abby’s arms.

“Listen to me, Nadia,” Abby instructed calmly. “We’re not leaving, okay? I’m going to set you down on that bed right there, and I’m going to help Clarke and Jackson …”

“No,” Nadia repeated, but the word was softer this time, more frightened. “Don’t let go.”

She wound her arms around Abby’s neck and buried her head in her hair.

“He’s okay,” Clarke said, and the words were directed at Nadia but Abby knew they were meant for her as well. “He’s just knocked out. The wounds are ugly, but we’ll stitch him up and he’ll be fine.”

Abby knew that Clarke wouldn’t lie to her - not about this - but her eyes drifted down to the unconscious man on the bed, and then up to Jackson. He spared a bare second to offer her a tight smile.

“Comfort your daughter, Abby. Your other daughter and I have this under control.”

He was being reassuring, but Abby couldn’t smile at him - she couldn’t move her mouth into the right shape when her heart was clawing its way viciously up her throat. Jackson knew, and understood.

So, Abby moved out of the way. She held on to Nadia and stepped over to the empty bed next to Marcus, out of Clarke and Jackson’s way, and whispered words that were meant to comfort both of them.

* * *

 

Nadia had been asleep for hours, but Abby kept brushing an idle hand through her unbound hair. The strands were coarse, and curly, and closer to Marcus’s color than her own; they were not the sleek, pale strands of Clarke’s hair. Clarke had her father’s hair.

Abby wondered if Nadia had her father’s hair. Unthinkingly, she turned her gaze on Marcus.

Bleary brown eyes blinked at her.

“Oh my god,” Abby said with a start. “Marcus.”

She was off the bed and at his side without being aware of her feet touching the ground. Abby cradled his face in her hands and didn’t notice that they trembled ever so slightly.

“I’m okay, Abby.” His voice was hoarse but reassuring.

Abby kissed him. The concern that Marcus had seen on her face when she’d realized he was awake poured from her lips, the insistent press of them both sweet and relieved. That kiss told him more about how frightened she’d been than any of her words could have.

“I’m okay,” he reassured her again when she’d given him enough time between kisses to do so.

Abby nodded. “I know.” She kissed him once more for good measure.

A quiet groan issued from the bed behind her. “Mom?”

Marcus’s eyes widened in surprise. Abby smiled at him and turned to see Nadia pull herself up into a seated position.

“Look who’s awake,” Abby said quietly. She stepped back so that Nadia could see Marcus.

Nadia clenched her fists and scowled darkly. She didn’t say a word.

Marcus sighed a little and grunted as he scooted slowly up the bed. “I know,” he said gravely. “I’m sorry I scared you, Nadia. I’m sorry for scaring both of you,” and he reached out a hand, which Abby caught. “Will you come sit with me?”

Nadia stared. Finally, she answered with a grim nod and Abby let go of Marcus’s hand long enough to pick her up and relocate her next to Marcus on the bed.

“It’s okay to be afraid when people you care about get hurt,” Marcus told her.

“They got hurt.” Nadia wouldn’t look at Marcus or Abby. “My mommy and daddy from before. They got hurt, and they never came back. I screamed and cried, and no one came.”

Marcus swallowed and raised his eyes to Abby. She had covered her mouth with one hand in horror, and the tears that threatened to spill over reflected the light and made her eyes glisten.

“Nadia …” He had to clear his throat before he could continue. “Nadia, your mommy and daddy would have come for you if they could have.”

“No one came, so you stopped talking. Is that it?” Abby asked.

Nadia nodded slowly. Then, “But you did.”

“I did what?”

“You came.”

Abby’s face fell as the tears began to slide down her cheeks. Nadia fixed her eyes on Marcus. “I miss my mommy and daddy from before.”

“We know you do, sweetie.”

“But I don’t want you to go with them. I don’t want you to get hurt and go away. I want you to stay here, with me. You’re my mommy and daddy now.”

Abby’s sob was so quiet, and so broken, that Marcus could have imagined it. He knew that he hadn’t, because its twin was lodged firmly in his throat and trying desperately to break free.

He had curled an arm around Nadia’s waist, and he uncoiled it now to reach blindly for Abby. When she grabbed his hand he pulled her over to them.

“Mom?” Clarke called softly as she turned the corner into medical. “I … What happened?”

Abby left Marcus and Nadia to wrap Clarke in a crushing hug.

“You’re crying.” Clarke was too dumbstruck to say anything else. “Why is everyone crying?”

Abby’s laugh was gasping and self-deprecating, but it lightened the mood considerably. Clarke had no idea what was happening.

She hugged her mother anyway.


	8. Chapter 8

Nadia may have decided that it was safe to talk to Abby and Marcus, but she was slow to decide that others deserved the same level of trust. To Abby’s surprise, the next person Nadia chose to talk to was Clarke.

“Why does that surprise you?” Marcus asked when Abby mentioned it to him one day.

“Because she’s had less interaction with Clarke than she has with the others.”

Marcus considered that for a moment. “True. But I think it has more to do with you than with Clarke.”

“What do you mean? Stop it.”

“Abby,” Marcus started.

“I see what you’re doing. For the hundredth time, stop scratching at those wounds. They’ll never heal if you keep doing that.”

“They itch.”

“Honestly, Marcus. You’re worse than a child.”

Marcus grinned and moved the hand that he had tried to place surreptitiously against his chest. The itching was a sign that healing was occurring, but it was also irritating and hard to ignore. Which he would not tell Abby because she’d only glare at him and say something along the lines of being more careful in the future.

“Nadia talks to Clarke because she knows that you love and trust her,” Marcus answered finally. “Nadia loves and trusts you. It makes sense.”

Abby kept her eyes on his as she reached out and grabbed the hand that Marcus had just started rubbing against his chest.

“It itches,” he told her plaintively.

“Whoa, what? I can come back,” Raven said from the doorway.

Abby shook her head at both of them and gave Marcus’s hand a squeeze before releasing it and turning her attention to the young woman that had joined them. “What’s up?”

“A few of us were wondering when the next trip to the big city is planned.”

“Big city?” Abby repeated.

“Polis,” Marcus answered before Raven could. “Why?”

“I want to see if I can find parts for my next little pet project. I think Jasper and Monty want to build a bigger still, but there are a few others that have legitimate reasons. Miller wants to pick something up for Brian. Their anniversary is next week.”

Abby raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“What?” Raven said defensively. “It’s cute.”

“I don’t think we have one planned right now,” Marcus said.

Abby turned contemplative eyes on him. “We could use a few things in medical. We could get a list together, take a small contingent and be back in a day. Two at the most.”

Marcus nodded. “I can get a team together and we can leave first thing tomorrow.”

“We? I don’t think so. You’re injured, Marcus.”

“Not enough to hinder my arm or leg movements.”

“But enough to pose a serious threat to your well-being if we encounter any kind of trouble on the journey.”

“We won’t.”

“Guys,” Raven said. They didn’t hear her.

“I bet you thought the same thing last time you went out those gates,” Abby retorted. “Do I really need to remind you how that ended?”

“That was a fluke, Abby.”

“Guys!” Raven yelled. That earned their attention. “You didn’t let me finish. Lexa got a message to Clarke. There’s gonna be some big banquet or something in Polis in a few days. I didn’t get the details, but she did say that Lexa had requested her presence, as well as both of yours and Nadia’s. We thought, if there wasn’t already a trip planned, a few of us could go with you and we could kill two birds with one stone.”

“A banquet for what?” Marcus asked.

Raven shrugged. “Like I said, I didn’t get the details. So, what do you say?”

“I’ll talk to Clarke,” Abby said, “but go ahead and get a list together.”

“Great. You two can go back to your lover’s quarrel now.” Raven disappeared.

Marcus looked at Abby.

“I thought Lexa was supposed to be on some pilgrimage,” she said quietly.

Marcus heard what she was really saying: _I thought I’d have more time with Clarke_. He stepped into her personal space and placed a hand on her shoulder; it was a familiar move, comfortable but with room for more if she so chose.

Abby barely hesitated before closing the distance, and Marcus slid his arm over her shoulder and across her back to pull her into his embrace. She was careful of his wounds but allowed herself to tuck her nose into the hollow of his shoulder.

“There’s nothing wrong with wanting Clarke to stay, Abby.”

Abby sighed against him. “She’s not happy here. It would be unfair to ask her to stay.”

Marcus rubbed his hands over her back in soothing circles. “How can I help?”

“Just keep doing what you’re doing.”

“Done.”

They were quiet for long moments. Then, quietly, Abby asked, “Are you sure you’re up for making the trip?”

“I’m fine, Abby. You said yourself that I was healing well. Besides, you’ll be with me.”

Fast footsteps alerted them to the arrival of someone else seconds before Nadia burst into the room, her face alight.

“Polis! Are we really going, Mom?”

Marcus chuckled and released Abby as Clarke joined them.

“She makes me feel old,” Clarke complained.

Abby glared at her. “Don’t start that.”

“Mom!”

“Yes, we’re going to Polis,” Abby addressed Nadia. Then she glanced at her eldest daughter.

“I didn’t have a chance to tell you earlier,” Clarke explained. “Lexa sent a rider this morning. The message was short, but she made it clear that we had to be there.”

“When?” Marcus asked.

“Two days.”

Marcus turned to Abby. “I’ll get a security detail together and make the arrangements.”

“Ooh, can I pick?” Nadia grinned and then immediately tried to arrange her features into a more pleading fashion.

“Pick what?” Marcus feigned confusion.

“Who goes with us,” she huffed.

Clarke hid a smile behind her hand and arched her eyebrows at her mom and Marcus.

“You’re too young to have that much sass,” Marcus said.

“What’s sass?”

“Never mind. Let’s go, M&M.”

Marcus swept Nadia up off her feet and then placed her on his shoulders. He smiled at Clarke and Abby and then the two of them disappeared to (presumably) decide on the security detail.

“Will you be glad to be back in Polis?” Abby asked gently.

The question surprised Clarke. “Yes.” Then, after a pause, “You aren’t going to ask me to stay?”

Abby thought of what she’d told Marcus mere minutes ago. “I want to,” she admitted. “But I know that if I did, and you stayed, you’d be miserable.”

“I don’t know if I’d go with miserable.”

Abby moved to cup her daughter’s face in her hands. “I’m your mom, Clarke. The only thing I want more than to keep you close is to see you happy. And if happy is in Polis with Lexa, then I will help you pack.”

“And visit often,” Clarke added with a sly grin.

“Weekly,” Abby agreed, and they laughed as Abby threw her arm around her daughter and led them out of the room.


End file.
